Bolt of Lighnting
by tjgangg
Summary: Gajeel's old friend has shown up to see him after the 7 year disappearance on Tenrou Island. Kit is the daughter of infamous Phantom Lord criminals, the valued child prodigy, Bolt. When Gajeel ditches the fight between Natsu, Laxus, and himself, Kit steps up. And so it would seem that Laxus has met his match. Rated M for language and smut later on.
1. Well, if it isn't my favorite asshole

Hey guys! So this is my first story and I would love for y'all to read it! I really love Fairy Tail and I got this idea to write a character that was equally matched to Laxus. So I hope you guys like her.

I know I wrote Laxus just a little OOC but I tried to keep him as unpleasant and cocky as possible. If you have any suggestions or reviews, just let me know :) I hope you guys like it! Thanks for reading!

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What the hell were all these people doing here? I thought as I stumbled upon a rather enormous gathering of people. I glared around, not liking being surrounded by so many bodies. I spotted food vendors and street performers surrounding a massive cherry blossom tree that was strewn with streamers of red, yellow, and black. There was music and laughter and it was all very annoying. It appeared to be a party. And party is definitely not what I came for.

Everyone seemed to be in a state of excitement, little boys tugging at their fathers hands to get closer to the trunk of the tree, teenage girls racing through the crowd, giggling something about pink hair and lightning, which, at the time, I thought to be extremely strange. One boy ran into my leg and bounced off, landing on his butt. I growled at the annoyance and whipped my head down to glare at him. His father scooped him up and walked briskly away, not liking the way I was staring furiously at his son. My eyes followed them until they disappeared into the crowd. I hate children.

Sighing, I pushed my way into the throng of people, trying to look for the real reason I came to this godforsaken city. Gajeel, my old friend from Phantom Lord, had written me. This was a complete bombshell because when I had been told that my best and only friend had vanished on Tenrou Island, I had become inconsolable. I had been searching for 5 years until I decided to finally accept the fact that he was dead. But a few days ago, I had received a letter from him, explaining everything, and I had rushed across the kingdom to see him for myself.

So here I was, in the middle of a damn party in order to see my once dead-but-came-back-to-life friend. I wasn't entirely sure the reason for the gathering but I didn't really care. I had come to see Gajeel and then planned return to my secluded home back in Dawn City. I walked through the crowd with ease, as I always did when surrounded by a group of people. For some reason, perhaps my permanent scowl, people parted for me.

Suddenly, I heard the strum of a chord and the raspy voice that could have only been my best friend. I turned toward the sound, the scowl melting off my face, replaced with what I considered a smile but others would probably call a not-frown. I began pushing people out of my way faster than they could move, attempting to reach the big stage that was set up near the base of the tree. I broke through the pulsing crowd of people to find Gajeel, "serenading" the crowd with the only song that he knew.

I almost sunk to my knees in relief. There he was, strumming on his electric guitar, a grin on his face. He really was ok. He was ok and sitting in front of me, singing horribly, but he was ok. I clenched my jaw as I tried to keep the tears from streaming down my face. Crying in public was probably the only thing I hated more than children.

Even so, I could feel a small tear leak out of my eye and drop the ground. I quickly swiped at it, hoping no one saw. But out of the corner of my eye, I could see someone watching at me. I glared over at the person, hoping to convey my promise to kill him if he so much as cracked a grin at my fallen tear. But he didn't. He just glared back at me with the same intensity. The lightning scar that cut jaggedly across his eye made him seem even more threatening. I had killed bigger guys than him, but something about his piercing blue eyes struck something deep within me, like I had seen him before. Before I could remember from where, he broke the glaring match to swat away a girl with light brown hair that was fussing with his shirt. He barked something at her that appeared to be menacing, if his angry face was anything to go by, but the woman just smiled and continued to fix his shirt.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite asshole in the whole world," I heard a deep voice bellow in front of me. I turned to see my long lost friend jump off the stage and walk toward me.

"It's been too long Gajeel. I see you look just as ugly as ever." I crossed my arms over my chest, attempting to hide the fact that I had cried just a moment ago. He barked a bizarre laugh and wrapped me in an even more bizarre hug.

"Oh, how I've missed your insults, Kit," he chuckled as he set me back down. He was still in a ridiculous white suit from his performance, a fedora tucked under his arm. I cocked an eyebrow as I looked him up and down.

"What the hell are you wearing?" I asked, incredulously. He laughed again, his face turned toward the sky. That was probably the most unsettling thing I had seen all day. Not his pansy suit, or his performance, or even the fact that it looked like he hadn't aged in 7 years. It was Gajeel laughing. Gajeel never laughed, and I mean _never_.

"You like it? It's my performing suit." He smirked. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?" I questioned. Clearly, someone was pulling a prank on me. This wasn't the real Gajeel, it couldn't be. My Gajeel would never _ever_ laugh over something as stupid as a damn suit. He chuckled once more.

"Of course it's me. Who else looks this good in a suit?" He gestured down to his annoying suit that I beginning to hate with each passing second.

"The hell it is," I grabbed his collar and pulled him down a few inches, being that he was several taller than me. "Now, you better tell me where he is or I'm gonna punch your damn teeth in," I said, a snarl on my face. His smirk fell of his face, annoyance taking its place.

"Oh come on, Kit. Stop playing around," he said with a roll of his eyes. I raised my fist.

"Oh really? Then tell me what I said when we first met," I demanded. He narrowed his eyes and ripped my hand off of his suit, smoothing out the wrinkles. The people around us had begun to notice our tiff and had slowly started backing away. I'm guessing they all knew Fairy Tail's reputation for destroying things.

"You know exactly what I told you, Kit. Quit it," he grumbled.

"Tell me right now or I swear to everything that is holy, I will break your goddamn nose," I barked loudly. He looked at me sharply and sighed.

"You told me, 'Hey asshole. Why don't you stop sulking for a bit and give me your sandwich,' to which I replied, 'Fuck you', to which you also replied, 'Fuck you'." He crossed his arms, clearly angry that I hadn't believed him. "Do you remember that or did you finally hit your head from all that running?"

I grunted and rolled my eyes as well. "Ok, it is you." The people around all sighed simultaneously.

He grunted a "Duh" and begun to pull me through the crowd. I tried to yank my arm free, smacking his arm and almost tugging my shoulder out of socket. I hated when people touched me for prolonged amounts of time. But I knew Gajeel was stronger than me so I let him tug me along behind him.

"Where the hell are we going?" I shouted angrily.

"I'm gonna go change for the fight. I'll be right back." And with that, he ran off, disappearing into the crowd.

"Fight?! What fight?!" I yelled after him. A person barked a laugh next to me. I turned and glared at the amused bystander.

"The fight between, Laxus, Natsu, and Gajeel. Duh. That's why everyone is here," the man said next to me. "It's gonna be so cool!" he shrieked with excitement. My jaw dropped in astonishment.

"They're having a party because people are fighting?" I asked, disbelieving. This is the absolutely stupidest thing that I had ever seen. "Who wants to celebrate fighting?" I ask out loud.

The man next to me laughed again. "Fairy Tail, of course!"

I palmed my forehead. Why the hell did I decide to come today?

Before I could go look for Gajeel to stop this whole charade, I heard a high pitched voice echo across the crowd.

"Laxus is so calm and collected, it's terrifying!" the voice screeches. Everyone's attention had been directed to the East, where Gajeel had run off to. I made my way through the crowd, everyone parting for my viciously furious grimace, and came across a circle of people. In the center, is the man that I saw earlier with the scar on his face, the one that had seen me cry. Behind him stood three people, his posse, I was assuming. I rolled my eyes. I cannot believe this was actually going to happen.

On the edge of the crowd, about 10 feet away from me, was Gajeel. He had his classic menacing glare fixated in the man seated across from him with his arms crossed over his chest. He was back in his normal clothes and out of that ridiculous suit. I made a mental note to burn it later.

I heard the same piercing voice again. "Sweet! Black steel Gajeel is ready to throw down!" An extremely excited blonde man was hopping up and down in between the two men. "The two hero's stare down their opponent," the skinny man says. I saw Gajeel turn to look at something, or rather someone, on the ground. He smiled down at what I could only assume was a black cat with a sword strapped to its back.

"The tension is so thick you could cut it with a knife!" the blonde man yelled. I was seriously going to injure that guy if he didn't calm the fuck down. Suddenly, someone barged through the wall of people. He had a white scarf on, even though its was very hot outside, and his pink hair was pointing every which way. The blonde man screamed, once again.

"Natsu has arrived! All three warriors are in their places!" I rolled my eyes and curled my fists. This was absolutely so stupid and quite obviously planned by men that I almost stepped into the circle to halt the fight.

Almost.

I was somewhat intrigued. All the hype for this fight had to be for something.

The man with the scar stood up, the annoying announcer narrating his every move, and stepped toward the pink haired boy. They glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity until the scarred man said,

"Let's do this thing." His deep voice reverberated around the circle as everyone cheered loudly. I rolled my eyes once again. All of these dramatics were really over the top.

Natsu, the pink haired boy, grinned and said, "Bring it." I crossed my arms and smirked. The man, who I could assume was named Laxus, was very large as he stood in the middle of the circle. He exuded so much power that I was surprised the smaller boy wasn't cowering under his stare. But then again, the kid emitted a large amount of power as well. This was going to be interesting.

They two men exchanged a few words and then Natsu's body engulfed in flames. Everyone erupted into a frenzy as Laxus' began to spark and crackle. Gajeel stood off to the side, apparently waiting his turn. Everyone was so excited to see these guys practically kill each other, they jostled me, ignoring the glares I sent their way. To be entirely honest, the thing that impressed me the most wasn't the power that rolled off of them in tidal waves. I had been around plenty of powerful things before. What did impress me was how untroubled Laxus seemed, standing mere feet from the flaming boy. The fire that surrounded the pink haired boy was searing, even from where I was standing, but Laxus seemed unbothered by it. The only thing that showed Laxus was even remotely ready for the enormous fight that was sure to ensue, was that the crackling that surrounded him became so loud and thundering that the children around me covered their ears. I raised my eyebrows, my interest piqued.

Natsu yelled loudly, his face contorting into fury, and moved to strike the man in front of him. But before he could do so, Laxus grabbed his fist and punched him straight into the ground.

The crowd was silent, everyone's jaw on the ground. Only a few people chuckled, expecting this result. I shook my head in disappointment, the boy should have known to never attack first. Laxus smirked, turning to talk to his "posse."

"TKO!" the annoying man shouted. I shot a glare in his direction, wanting to rip the damn microphone out of his hands. I stalked into the circle about to do just that when Laxus turned around to face Gajeel.

"So, ready for round 2?" he asked. Everyone gasped, ignoring my presence but rather focused on the lack of presence where Gajeel had just been standing.

"Where the hell is Gajeel?" someone shouted loudly. I looked around as well, not expecting my dragon slayer friend to run. I shook my head, once again disappointed.

"Wow. Even Gajeel ran. You must be quite the big shot around here," I said, forgetting my mission to murder the announcer. Laxus leveled me with an annoyed stare. He looked me up and down, taking in my clothes that were very similar to Gajeel's, a tight black tunic and matching slacks, a gray robe covered my purple hair.

He smirked. "Do you know who I am, little girl?"

I cocked an eyebrow. Who the hell did this guy think he was? "Little girl? Good one," I smirked back at him. "But the real question is, do you know who _I_ am, thunder boy?" I fired back. He glared at me, obviously not liking the nickname.

He stepped forward, his arms dropping to his sides. "Should I?" he asked, clearly perturbed.

A man with long green hair pipped up behind him. "You should watch your tongue, little girl. That's Laxus, the S-class lightning wizard," he said with conviction.

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. "Should that ring a bell?" The green haired man gapped at me. Well, obviously this guy really was some big shot. Laxus smiled at me, but it was definitely not a friendly smile. It was a calculating smile, like a snake would smile at its prey. But, lucky for me, I had dealt with plenty of snakes.

"You know, little girl, I think it would be best if you left." Laxus took another step toward that implied that he, in fact, did not want me to leave.

He wanted a fight.

And he was in luck, because I wanted to punch that smirk right off his damn face.

I pushed my hood back off my head. "Again with the little girl? Come on, I don't look that young." I dropped my arms to my sides, as Laxus had done, and took a step of my own.

Laxus shrugged. "What are you, 15?" I clutched my heart, in fake offense.

"Oh Laxus, your words hurt me. Why don't I show you just how old I really am?" I suggested. "I heard you were stuck on an island for what, 7 years? Your powers must have weakened since then, right? Why don't we put them to the test," Everyone froze, stunned by my response. Even he looked slightly surprised that I was instigating a fight.

"Looks like Laxus might get the fight that he came here for. From a mysterious newcomer, nonetheless," the blonde announcer squeaked in the silence. I whipped my head in his direction.

"Oi, blondie!" I yelled angrily. "I've had it with your goddamn screaming so why don't you just put a cork in it." The announcer looked afraid as he ducked behind someone's shoulder. I turned my attention back to Laxus to see that he was laughing. Quite hard, in fact. This annoyed me more than I thought it would.

"And what would be so funny?" I asked. He just glanced up at me and laughed harder.

"Come on, girl. You don't really think you can beat me, do you?" he wheezed between barks of laughter. The girl in green that stood behind him stepped forward.

"Why don't you just leave? You're just going to get yourself killed," she said with a grin on her face, as if my death physically pleased her.

I whipped off my robe and tossed it to the side. "We'll see about that." I said calmly. The flutter of my robe hitting the ground broke Laxus out of his amused state and he smirked once again.

"You know, we don't have a place in the cemetery for outsiders," he took a few steps toward me, now only a couple feet in front of me.

"I don't think it's my gravestone you need to be worrying about," I took another step forward, my boots now touching his. I had to tilt my head up quite far for me to look in his eyes. They were shining bright with amusement. He thought this was going to be a walk in the park.

Boy, was he wrong.

I knew the reason for everyone's disbelief. They didn't expect me to beat Laxus because of the lack of energy that I possessed at that moment. Little did they know, that that was bout to change dramatically.

I stood on one side of the circle and Laxus stood on the other. He still seemed to not be taking this seriously, his posture relaxed and a azy smile perched on his face. I crossed my arms. Those who underestimated their opponents power, in my experience, lost terribly. Then again, I wasn't sure what this guy was capable of either. But I knew better than to treat this like a game.

The announcer took up narrating, which angered me greatly. "Well, folks. I guess we're going to get our fight. Laxus against the mysterious purple haired stranger. Here we go. Are the fighters ready?" he asked over the uncomfortable shuffle of the crowd. Laxus nodded. He began to crackle as he had with Natsu, only slightly louder, if at all possible.

I nodded as well, locking gazes with the over confident man in front of me.

"You may begin!" he shouted over the crashing coming from Laxus. But we didn't move. Laxus smirked at my unmoving figure.

"You gonna move, honey?" He was patronizing me, luring me to strike first. I shook my head and tapped my temple.

"Strategy, honey." I snarled back. He smiled then, the same calculating smile from earlier.

"Well then, let's get this over with." His lightning arced into the sky and struck the ground where I had been standing, only I wasn't there. I was 20 feet to the left.

"You missed, Laxus." I smiled. He grunted and attempted to strike me again, only I was back where I had been standing before. This repeated multiple times, him not landing a single hit.

"Come on, Laxus. You missed again. Can you just hit me already? Get this over with, like you said?" I taunted, knowing that would only make him angrier.

"Are you just going to keep dodging my attacks? Or are you going to actually do something?" he growled angrily. I shrugged.

"Maybe, if you hit me first." I suggested. He narrowed his eyes and struck again, much wider and faster this time. Only, I was too fast for him to comprehend. Suddenly, I was standing inches from his chest.

I shook my head, chastising. He punched forward, lightning sparking from his fist. I ducked right, anticipating his feint, and grabbed his fist. He laughed.

"Hand to hand is my favorite," he muttered. He exploded with lightning, electrocuting me in the process. But, instead of falling to the ground, as I'm sure he expected, I was already gone. A few feet to his left, I chuckled. Lightning sparked from my body, my heart pounding hard in my chest from the power. My hands begun to shake, which I knew was not a good sign.

"Wow. You are a lot slower than I expected. I thought you were going to be an actual challenge for me." A bolt of lightning struck toward me again, but I was back to where I had begun. "Although, more powerful than I expected. A delightful surprise."

Behind me I could hear the murmurs from the crowd. "Who is this girl?" "She's just playing with him." "How is she just appearing out of thin air?"

And the million dollar question was how _was_ I just appearing out of thin air.

Well, I wasn't just materializing. That was not the kind of magic I used. I was actually moving so fast that it seemed as if I was appearing out of thin air. The naked eye couldn't physically "see" me until I was standing still.

But that wasn't the only magic I used; I'll get to that later.

Laxus had suddenly seemed to understand what exactly I was doing as his face contorted into a sneer.

"Speed. You're using speed magic," he hissed through his teeth. I clapped.

"You know, Laxus, you're not as stupid as I originally thought," I teased. His knowing smile was a little unsettling. He looked a little less cocky and little more, how should I say this, evil?

"And you're a lot stupider than _I_ originally thought." He raised his hands to the sky, lightning appearing out of nowhere and raced toward his hands.

If I don't die from the amount of power he is about to throw at me, I will definitely die from the repercussions. Laxus laughed maniacally. I held my hands out to my sides, waiting for the blast. My body had begun to tremble from the lightning I had absorbed a few moments before. To some, I probably looked scared and was accepting my death, but I was only bracing myself.

"Let's see you run from this, little girl," he shouted over the roaring of the lightning crashing around him. The people in the circle backed away, some even ran, which was smart. The blast that was about to hit me would hit anyone within 50 feet, easily.

Finally, he released his pent up energy, lightning vaulting toward me at, well, lightning speed. It hit me full force, sending me skidding back a few feet, but I hadn't fallen down, yet. Before I could cringe from the thundering sound of the lightning snapping around my body, I threw my hands out in front of me, sending it all straight back toward Laxus. I saw his face a moment before it hit him with 10 times more power than when it had hit me. It had transformed into recognition. He knew who I was now.

As the lightning hit Laxus, he flew back into his groupies. I watched as they fell to the ground through twitching eyes. If everyone's jaw had hit the ground from watching Laxus knock out Natsu with one punch, everyone's jaw was now through the ground and on it's way to hell. I convulsed involuntarily, remnants of the electricity pulsing through my veins.

I took an experimental step and my knee buckled beneath me. I stumbled forward and landed on my hands and knees.

I managed a weak, "Don't touch me," fearing that if anyone touched me, would be electrocuted as well, before passing out onto the ground that was still smoking from lightning.

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Well there it is! The first chapter! And comments or suggestions, just review :)


	2. I'm the Bolt

Hey guys! So this is the second chapter. Again, I tried to Laxus' rough nature but make him a little softer toward Kit. I hope you guys like it and let me know what you think!

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When I woke, the first thing I noticed was the sharp smell of antiseptic. The second thing I noticed was the itchy texture of sheets beneath me. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. Where the hell was I? I attempted to sit up but my body wouldn't let me. I ached everywhere. My head throbbed violently, my limbs felt like they were made of lead, and my right eye was twitching.

Oh yeah, that's right. I'd gotten in a fight. That shit had really taken its toll on me but to be quite honest, I was surprised I wasn't dead. I grunted quietly, turning my head to the side to test my neck for stiffness. It didn't hurt as much I had expected. As I turned to the other side, I noticed a figure lying in the bed next to me. I squinted. It kind of looked like… Wow, he looked like a fucking mess.

Laxus was laid in the bed next to me, completely unconscious with burn marks on his clothes and a bandage around his head. His face was calm and almost innocent looking, his mouth was slightly open, his chest rising and falling. I smirked, taking selfish pride in being able to make Fairy Tail's golden boy look so roughed up. But it was short lived as I realized how shitty that was. Taking pride in someone else's pain was disgraceful, my mother would say. I turned a slight shade of pink in shame and turned to look at the ceiling. Wow, Kit, you're a real piece of crap.

How the hell had I ended up in this mess? I had only come to see Gajeel and go home. This was a disaster. I was going to have to explain myself to these damn wizards and that just wasn't an option. I didn't want anyone to know who I was. But that didn't matter because once Laxus woke up, he was going to tell everyone the truth because he knew. I know he knows. I saw it in his eyes the moment his own lightning struck him. Then a thought struck me: If he knew, then surely the rest of the guild knew as well.

I was about to move to put my feet on the floor so I could leave when the door opened. I quickly shut my eyes, feigning sleep, as the person walked over to my bedside. They put a hand to my forehead and a finger to my neck, checking my pulse?

"Well, she's ok," the person above me said, probably to another person in the room. The other person sighed, which I took as a good thing.

"How's Laxus?" the other person mumbled quietly. I heard shuffling, a brief silence and then a confirmation that he was ok as well. I heard some more shuffling and felt my bed give way as someone sat at the edge.

"So, who exactly is this girl, master?" a woman asked.

"I don't know. But if she did this to Laxus, then I think we'd better find out soon," a man said quietly. The women murmured in agreement. Nothing was said for a few moments until the woman spoke again.

"You know, she does kind of look like Milligan," she whispered, obviously continuing a conversation they had had. I almost choked at the sound of my father's name but managed to remain still.

"A little," the man agreed. "Do you really think this is his daughter?" he queried.

"It would make sense. I know he beat Gildarts many times," the woman pondered. Gildarts… that name sounded familiar, like an old friend of my father's.

"If this is his daughter, it means that before he," a brief pause, "passed," an audible gulp, "he had taught her everything he knew. Which means…" he trailed off.

The woman finished for him, "She's been this strong for over 10 years." There was another pause that stretched for a few minutes in which I could feel them watching me. "How come we never heard anything about her?"

"I don't know, but if she was in Phantom Lord, like Milligan was, she knew Gajeel and Juvia." They were figuring out way too much in the short time that they had been here. This was not good.

But before they could say anything else, I heard a grunting sound come from the bed next to me.

"Where the hell am I?" Laxus' deep voice even deeper as he woke up. The person that sat at the foot of my bed, stood up.

"You're in the infirmary, Laxus. Do you remember what happened?" the man asked. I peeked out of one eye and I saw their backs were turned, watching Laxus intently, their spines rigid.

He groaned in pain and clutched at his head. The woman, who had long, white hair, moved to place a bag of ice on his forehead, to which he swatted away.

"I'm fine." He leaned back against the pillow, his eyes clenched tight.

"Do you remember what happened, Laxus?" the man with navy hair asked again. Laxus opened his eyes after a brief moment of silence.

"Yeah." He looked over at me then, his eyes catching my gaze. I quickly shut my eyes. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Nothing was said after that for a while.

Finally, Laxus broke the silence. "Can you guys just leave me alone for a minute?" he asked, his tone annoyed. I heard more shuffling and the sound of a door being opened and closed.

All I heard for the next few minutes was Laxus' deep breathing, in and out, in and out. I cracked my eyes open again to chance a peek at him to find that he was already staring at me. I stared back, his wicked blue eyes boring into me so intensely I thought he would disintegrate me on the spot. His blonde hair was even more wild than before, sticking into the air with static electricity. His massive body looked odd laying in the bed with bandages wrapped around his head. Like he shouldn't even be here in the first place.

I rolled onto my back, sighing deeply.

"So, I guess I'm found out now, huh?" I breathed with a short laugh. "I thought everyone had finally forgotten about me but I just had to come to Magnolia today, didn't I?" I said to no one in particular. The silence hung between us like a timid ghost, not quite comfortable but not quite menacing.

"It's been a long time since I've been in one of these," he said, his deep voice slightly amused. I turned to look at him to find he was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling. "I think I had been 14. I picked a fight with Mira. That had been a huge mistake," he chuckled lightly at the memory. He remained quiet for a few minutes before turning back to look at me, his expression hard.

"I know who you are," he said, expressing my fears. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, I figured," I said quietly, not wanting any of this to be real. Why couldn't I just be laying in my bed at home?

"I'm not gonna tell anyone," he said. I opened my eyes in surprise.

"Why not? I kicked your ass in front of the entire town. You should get revenge and tell everyone who I am," I admitted, exaggerating what happened. I hadn't kicked his ass; I outsmarted him. He looked at me sharply.

"First of all, you did not kick my ass," he scoffed. I rolled my eyes.

"Really, then what did you call what happened in the park?" I questioned.

"A friendly fight in which you tricked me," he pushed back.

"We're not friends." I glared at him. He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"True. How about an unfair fight where I let you win," he smirked at me.

"Bullshit. You lost a _fair_ fight, _fair_ and square." I snorted.

"I never lose," he said, suddenly serious. I glared back at him.

"Well, you did. You know, I think a man who can accept defeat is sexy. Maybe you'll get some more women, Laxus,. Just accept you lost," I grunted as I pushed myself into a sitting position. I felt like a rusty robot. My joints creaked and groaned, my muscle stiff and heavy.

He let out an unamused laugh. "I don't need more women, little girl."

"Again with the 'little girl'? It's almost offensive. I'm 25, for your information," I said indignantly. After I was sure my knees wouldn't give out again, I pushed into a standing position. I immediately saw stars, the room started spinning in circles. I grabbed for the bed side table and almost fell on top of Laxus when his hand shot forward and caught my arm before I could.

"Hey, why don't you just lay back down," he said gruffly. I closed my eyes and shook my head, hoping to clear some of the haze.

"I can't. I have to leave," I whispered, afraid that talking loud would break my skull open from the pain.

"Why? Just lay back down, you can barely even walk," he attempted to sit up and push me back in my bed but he moaned and grabbed at his head. "Shit, what the fuck did you do to me, woman?" I opened my eyes and looked over at him. His head was a lot worse than I thought. The white wrapping was slightly red, blood beginning to seep through. He must have hit his head when I blasted him backward.

"Hmph. Woman is slightly better than little girl but why don't you call me by my actual name?" I growled. He only peeked at me sideways.

"I don't know your real name. I only know what people call you," he sighed and let go of my arm, which I realized he had been gripping lightly. I stood up a little straighter and glanced at him. He peered up at me in interest. God, his eyes were so fucking blue. Like the sky on an autumn day. I looked away quickly and searched around the room for some clean bandages.

"Yeah well, you don't need to go saying that name out loud." I spied a cabinet marked _Dressings_ and slowly shuffled over to open it. "My real name is Kit."

"That's it? Just Kit?" he asked from behind me. I stood on my toes to try and reach the box with clean wrappings.

"Kit is the only thing you need to call me," I grumbled. I didn't want him to know my full name. That was almost as dangerous as the nickname my father had given me. I turned back toward him to see that he was still watching me. I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you looking at?"

He shrugged but didn't look away. "I'm surprised you're walking is all." I raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" I questioned sharply. He shrugged again.

"With all the magic I threw at you, you should be dead," he said bluntly. It was my turn to shrug.

"I guess I'm pretty tough then, huh?" I moved over to the side of his bed and motioned for him to sit up. He leaned forward but couldn't sit up all the way so I put a hand to his back and pushed him forward.

"Seriously, you should be dead right now. How are you even walking around?"

"Very carefully," I said sarcastically, which was true. My head was still spinning a little but his dressings needed to be changed and I hadn't fought him in Gajeel's place only to have him die of infection. I grabbed the end of the wrapping and slowly unwound it. He didn't seem to like my answer.

"Are you really going to pretend like you didn't do what you did back there?" he questioned. "Because everyone saw it. And if they don't know who you are now, they will soon."

I grunted. I knew he was right. But the faster I got out of here, the less it would matter. Yet, here I was, changing his dressings.

I set the bloodied gauze off to the side and pulled the red bandage away from his head. "I can increase the strength of an attack and redirect it somewhere else." I mumbled. He nodded, as if he expected as much.

"I knew you had done something different to it because I wouldn't look like this if you hadn't," he grimaced. I chuckled but nodded.

"Ok, now I have to clean it so it might hurt a little," I warned, referring to the gash along his hairline.

He rolled his eyes but said nothing. I poured alcohol onto a clean strip of gauze and gently pressed it to his head. He did not like this. He howled in pain and punched me in the stomach.

Yeah, he punched me in the fucking stomach.

It wasn't like an upper case W, as in " _Wham"_ but more like a lower case f, as in "what the _fuck"_.

I coughed as the wind rushed out of me. I stumbled back a step, almost falling onto my ass. "What the fuck, asshole!" I shouted before punching him square in the nose. He bellowed loudly and clutched at his nose. "I was just trying to help so you didn't die!" A punch in the stomach was definitely not how you thanked someone.

He leaned back against his pillow as blood begun to gush out of his nose. "What the hell!" he shouted back. "Why did you have to do that?"

I gaped at him. "You punched me in the stomach! I had every right to hit you back," I said, bending over to catch the breath he had knocked out of me.

"Yeah, but why the face?" he gurgled through the waterfall of blood. I threw my hands up in annoyance.

"Because it as the first thing I saw! God, get over here so I can clean this up, too." He looked up at me like I was crazy.

"No fucking way," he said and tried to grab for the chunk of gauze I had in my hand. I lifted it so it was just out of his reach.

"Seriously, Laxus. Just let me clean it," I said, frustrated. Men were so difficult.

He shook his head and tried to snatch at the gauze again. I grunted in irritation and slapped his hand away.

"Quit being a child. You deserved it. Now, just come here so I can look at it." I said like an impatient babysitter. He shook his head again and glared at me. I glared back.

"If you don't come here now, I'm gonna hit you again," I threatened.

He glowered at me for a few more moments before complying, not wanting to be punched somewhere else. He sat forward and I helped him the last few inches. I grabbed his hands and lowered them away from his face, immediately regretting it. It was a red mess. Blood rushed out of both nostrils and the area around his nose was beginning to turn a slight blue color. My face must have shown how bad it looked because he groaned.

"Is it really that bad?"

"Um…" I said and at that moment, someone barged into the room. Well, multiple someones. I whipped around to see a black haired boy with no shirt on.

"Holy shit! What happened in here?" he asked with a huge smile in his face. Laxus shot him a look that almost crackled in the air. Behind the shirtless boy, I saw a girl with long brown hair and a man with bright white hair peek out from behind him,

The brown haired girl stepped forward, eyeing Laxus and I. "Laxus, you look like a fucking mess," she said, voicing my thoughts from earlier. The man with white hair laughed.

"You look just like Natsu after he fights with Erza." He clutched at his stomach, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Laxus shot them all a look of pure, unadulterated hatred.

"Get the hell out, before I come over there and fry you," he growled menacingly. The threat wasn't much being that he couldn't stand but the look in his eyes was ten times more frightening than how he glared at me in our fight in the park. The shirtless boy, unaffected, only laughed.

"Come on, guys. Give him a break. He has to lose some fights, just like the rest of us," he crossed his arms, obviously not scared by the blazing fury in Laxus' eyes.

Before Laxus could deliver his promise to filet them, the woman that had come in before shooed them out of the room. "Get out of here you three! Don't make me get Makarov up here." This threat was obviously scarier than Laxus' because they all practically jumped over each other in order to vacate the room.

As soon as they left, the woman shut the door with a decidedly loud thunk. Her eyes swept over the scene. I was leaning over Laxus, a piece of gauze held to his bloody nose, and Laxus sat motionless on the bed, clearly embarrassed but trying to look annoyed instead. The woman smiled then, walking over to the edge of my bed and sitting down.

"So, what did happen here?" she asked in a sweet voice. Before I could say anything, Laxus grunted from his place on the bed.

"She punched me in the face." I shot a disbelieving look at him.

"You hit me first, asshole," I defended, pointing an accusing finger at his face. I looked back at the pretty woman, who watched our exchange with a small smile. "He punched me in the stomach so I hit him back," I explained further, sounding like a third grader. The woman seemed to understand because she just nodded her head and continued to look from Laxus to me and back again. I turned back to Laxus to see he was smirking under my hand.

"And what's so funny, thunder boy?" I asked, grabbing more gauze to catch the falling blood.

He scowled at the nickname. I smiled and shoved another piece of cloth against his nose. He winced and glared up at me. I turned back to look at the woman to see if she was going to clean Laxus up so I wouldn't have to do it but then the room suddenly began to spin. I stumbled back and Laxus' hand shot out to steady me again. The woman stood from her place on my bed and moved to grab the gauze from my hand. I let her take it and all but collapsed back down on my own bed. My head had begun to spin faster and I was sure I would have fallen over if I had continued to stand.

"I'm Mirajane, by the way," she said as she continued to clean up the mess I had made, meaning Laxus' face. I grunted in response because forming words was becoming increasingly difficult as stars danced in front of my eyes. Laxus looked over at me and his annoyed expression softened.

"I told you to lay down," he said quietly despite his teasing tone. I ignored his statement and gripped at my head, willing the room to stop spinning. Mirajane glanced over at me.

"You really should lay down, sweetie. I'm surprised you were standing at all," she said while still tending to Laxus' nose which had finally stopped bleeding. I grunted again in response.

Laxus chuckled. "You and me both, Mira."

Mirajane handed the gauze to Laxus so he could hold it himself and turned to me. I looked up at her dazzling smile and almost smiled myself, if it hadn't seemed like there were three of her. She placed her hands on my shoulders and began to push me down when Laxus spoke up behind her.

"Mira, go get that little girl," he said while wiping at his face, accidentally smearing blood rather than cleaning it up. She looked over at him and nodded in agreement before exiting the room.

"What little girl?" I managed to say through clenched teeth.

Laxus only looked over at me and said, "She'll help you feel less dizzy." In my current state, this confused me. How was she going to make me less dizzy? Was she going to stop the room from spinning? Before I could express my confusion, I tumbled head first toward the floor, blackness taking the place of the stars.

* * *

When I woke for the second time, I was greeted with the same antiseptic smell. I, again, scrunched my nose in distaste. But instead of the stiff sheets under my fingertips, something hard and cold was pressed up against my cheek. I opened my eyes in confusion to see that I was lying on the floor of the infirmary. I grunted and tried to roll onto my back but my body wouldn't listen to my commands. I heard Laxus chuckle lightly from up above me.

"Laxus, you better shut up right now or I'll punch you again," I mumbled with my cheek still lying against the smooth tile, my head now pounding so viciously tears welled up in my eyes. I heard him chuckle again in reply. I was about to attempt another roll to my side when the door burst open.

"What was that loud noise?" someone called out worriedly. I grumbled loudly from my place on the floor.

"She fucking fell face first into the floor." I heard Laxus laughing louder from above me.

"Laxus, when I get off this floor, I'm gonna hit you so hard that…" Someone cut me off before I could finish my threat.

"Laxus, watch your mouth," I heard someone warn, obvious that the person had not heard me from my place on the floor. Laxus' eye roll was practically audible. Suddenly, a pair of tiny blue shoes walked into my line of sight.

"Oh my!" I heard a child exclaim. The owner of the blue shoes knelt down in front of me and gently helped me roll over onto my back. The girl above me smiled brightly. "Hi! I'm Wendy. I'm gonna fix you up, ok?" I blinked up at her, not quite understanding her words.

Wendy smiled before placing her hands in midair, just above my abdomen. I stared down in amazement as a blue light admitted from her hands. Gradually, the room stopped spinning and the aching in my head subsided. My lips tilted up in a small smile up at the blue hair girl.

"Thanks, Wendy. I think I can go another round with thunder boy up there." She giggled and Laxus shouted "Hey!". Wendy offered a hand to pull me up off the floor and I accepted it, finally getting solid legs underneath me. Beside my bed was the man with the dark blue hair from earlier.

Wendy then turned to Laxus and did the same thing for him that she had done for me. His nose became less and less blue and his pinched features eased.

Once, Wendy had finished, Mirajane waved her out of the room, following close behind. The man shut the door lightly behind them and turned to face me, watching my face intently. I was tempted to break the awkward silence but Laxus beat me to it.

"Macao, she's not…" he began but the man put his hand up to silence him. Laxus grunted but shut his mouth. The man continued to stare at me, looking me up and down, appraising me. He couldn't have seen very much but his expression was still slightly on edge.

"Who are you?" he asked. I glanced at Laxus to see if he would reveal my secret, but he said nothing.

"Who wants to know?" I asked, matching his gaze. He narrowed his eyes at me.

"I'm Fairy Tail's guild master, Macao. Now tell me, little girl, who are you?" he asked, perturbed. Laxus snorted behind me, knowing my tolerance of that name.

"If you saw any of the shit that went down in that park, you would certainly know that I am not a little girl," I said fiercely. Why was everyone calling me that? I couldn't possibly look like a little girl. Sure, I was a little on the short side, and my chest was kind of flat, but if anything, I looked like a boy. And that, I could handle.

The man only crossed his arms and raised any eyebrow at me. He already knew. Why was I putting up a front? And even if I did tell him, what would it matter? I was leaving so they wouldn't have to worry about me hurting anyone else.

I sighed. "I'm the person you think I am," I confirmed his suspicions from his earlier conversation with Mirajane. But he still didn't look satisfied.

"And who might that be?" he pushed. I rolled my eyes in annoyance. This guy was seriously dense.

"The Human Lacrima, the Lightning Rod, the Lantern," I said, counting my many names on my fingers. He nodded, concerned that I would name my father, my infamous father. The terrible man who was rumored to kill so many people.

"I'm daughter of the notorious villain, Pivoter, the smartest wizard to ever live." I was growling now, furious that his eyes were judging me so harshly. "My name is Kitsuran Evans, daughter of Milligan and Iliana Evans." I snarled, contemptuous. He didn't know my father. He didn't know me. He didn't know my family.

I roared, "I am the youngest S-Class mage ever, the fastest person alive. I'm the Bolt."


	3. Well, here's the fucking superstar

So here's a little Gajevy for you because they are my ultimate OTP :)))))))

* * *

After my brief monologue, I was fuming. My blood was boiling, my teeth clenched so hard that I was surprised they weren't cracking. My fists that were clenched at my side were shaking and a fierce urge to kill this guy overcame me. He had no idea what I've been through. He had no idea what my parents have been through and I was not going to stand here and let him judge me and my family based on the numerous rumors that surrounded us. The one thing I hated more than anything in the entire world was when people assumed my family was just as fucked up as Phantom Lord was. No one knew the real reason behind my father's identity.

I took a step forward, advancing on him, prepared to snap his thin neck. Then I noticed the look on his face. Hidden behind a thin layer of anger was fear. He was afraid of me.

I smiled. Good. He should be scared of me. He didn't know what I was capable of, no one did. But as I took another step forward, I felt something grab my arm. I looked down to see Laxus' hand wrapped firmly around my bicep. I looked up at him sharply but he wasn't looking at me. I saw the tail end of something he had mouthed to the man. And as I saw Macao all but run out of the room, I understood what that was. I wrenched my arm out of his grasp, turning around and shoving him hard against the chest. For what, I wasn't sure because I knew he was only trying to protect his friends.

He grabbed my wrists before I could push him again. I tugged but he didn't let go. He wasn't going to let go of me until I looked like I wasn't trying to kill someone.

"Dammitt, Laxus! Let go of me!" I shouted and tugged again. He shook his head.

"I know that look, Kit. You're not laying a finger on any of my family," he said, his deep voice low and menacing.

"Why not? You already tried, didn't you?" I snarled. I tugged again and again but he was stronger than me.

"I might not like everyone here, but just because I don't like them doesn't mean I'm going to let someone like you try and hurt them," he yelled angrily, shaking me. "That's my job."

Red hazed over my eyes like a terrifying film. I was so angry that my entire body was trembling. I could feel my rage swirling deep in the pit of my stomach. A rage that wasn't necessarily directed at Macao but to everyone who always assumed the worst of me.

I slowly closed my eyes, taking a quivering breath. I hated being like this, hysterically infuriated. It just reminded me of how much of a monster everyone thought I was.

I lowered my head, letting it fall on his chest. I felt his heart beating fast against my forehead. Maybe he was scared of me, too. I was sucking in air rapidly, like the oxygen in the room would run out before I could actually catch my breath. Dots danced behind my closed eyelids and my ears were ringing violently. My chest was rising and falling as fast as it could, trying to inhale as much air as possible. I could faintly hear Laxus speaking but keeping myself from having a full blown panic attack was taking over my senses. I didn't notice his grip on my wrists loosen but I clutched at his shirt, hanging on to help me remain standing.

I vaguely felt Laxus grab my shoulders and set me down onto something hard, but the next thing I knew, my head was being pressed between my knees. I sucked in more air, mumbling to myself something like "calm down" or maybe "fuck shit fuck". I couldn't really distinguish between words but I didn't really care.

Slowly but surely, the dots disappeared and the ringing ceased. It was then that I noticed that I was sitting on the floor, my head tucked between my knees, and Laxus' hand rubbed circles on my back. I took a shuddering breath, pulling my body upright, my head leaning against the bed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Laxus staring straight ahead, his jaw clenched and nostrils flared, his hand still resting on my back. He let me sit there for another few silent minutes before rising to his feet. To my surprise, he extended a hand to me. I looked at it, shocked.

He seemed to understand my confusion because he said, "I was trying to help you." At first, I thought he was referring to my panic attack but then I realized, he really meant stopping me from hurting Macao.

Later I would realize that at this moment, as I looked up at his hulking figure and his outstretched hand and his stern face with his cruel scar, our futures had been woven together.

* * *

After wiping at the tears that I hadn't noticed had fallen during my episode, I grabbed my robe that Laxus handed me. His expression was still unreadable as I followed him out in the main guild hall. It was extremely noisy, bottles and chairs flying every which way. Laxus ducked as a stray wine bottle flew past his face.

"Oi! Watch where you're throwing, Cana!" he shouted across the guild. The fighting ceased, everyone's head whipping in our direction. I did my best to not look at them, but I felt my eyes drifting from each awed face to the next. I grimaced, having a pretty good idea of why they seemed so amazed, and looked down at my boots. I felt Laxus glaring at everyone beside me, the air almost crackling around him.

Before Laxus could say anything, the room erupted into applause. People were howling and cheering wildly, banging on the tables and stomping their feet. I looked up, shocked. Everyone was going crazy, raising their glasses to me in a toast, which I couldn't understand because everyone was talking over each other. I glanced up at Laxus and he had crossed his arms, shaking his head in distaste.

"Can you tell me what's happening?" I asked. He looked down at me and scowled.

"They're cheering because you beat me," he clipped. I laughed a little because surely, he had to be joking. But as I looked around the room, I caught snippets of conversations.

"… finally beat him… he looks like hell… she's so short though…"

Wow. This shit really was a big deal, and it was making me kind of pissed. I clenched my fists and ground my teeth. This was ridiculous. Who celebrated someone's defeat?

Before I could ask them just that, Laxus grabbed my arm. I looked up at him and he shook his head, a serious look in his eyes. I looked down at my hands to find them shaking, like they had when I had almost killed Macao just a few minutes ago. Dammitt, these people were going to be the death of me. Why were they so infuriating?

I guess I had said this out loud because Laxus said, "I ask myself the same thing everyday." Laxus hand drifted down to my back, rubbing slow, barely noticeable circles. I took a shaky breath and unclenched my fists.

"Thanks," I muttered quietly, stepping away from his hand. "I think I'm gonna go." Laxus frowned but before he could say anything else, I darted through the crowd of people, almost running towards the exit. As I passed, people slapped my back and shouted things like "that was really something" and "that was incredible". I pushed through the crowd, practically elbowing people in the ribs in attempt to get the hell out of there.

I burst through the double doors, the chilly autumn air biting at my exposed skin. The sun had just set, the sky tinged with blues and purples. And yeah, I guess it was beautiful and shit, pretty sunset and all that, but just as I walked out of the guild, the coward of the day stopped mid-step, 15 feet away.

"Well, here's the fucking superstar," I said, shoving my hands into the pockets of my slacks. "What was so important that you had to run off to, hmm? You gotta girl I don't know about?"

He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Um," he began but I held up my hand.

"No need. I already know you're a fucking pussy so why don't we just call it a day and I can head back to Dawn City, yeah?" I grunted, sweeping past him. I came all this way for him and he just ditched me. I didn't need this.

"Oh, come on, Kit. Just let me explain," he called after me. I whipped around, cold wind blowing through my hair.

"What's there to say? You ran from a fight like a goddamn bitch and ditched your best friend to fight him for you. You know, Gajeel, we're not kids anymore. I can't keep fighting your battles for you… What?" His jaw had gone slack, his mouth hanging open.

"What do you mean, fight my battles?" he asked suspiciously.

"You know, the fight you skipped out on for your little girlfriend? Hope she was worth it…" I scoffed, crossing my arms.

"You fought Laxus?" he asked in disbelief. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, you obviously weren't going to do it so I did it for you. But that's not the point. The point is I came all this way…" He cut me off.

"You're telling me, that after you saw him knock out Natsu with one punch, that didn't scare you, even a little bit?" he asked, amazed. I looked at him pointedly.

"I don't get scared, Gajeel. You already know that," I said, waiving a dismissive hand. "As I was saying, I came all this way to see you and you just…" Again, he cut me off.

"Wait, wait wait wait. You willingly fought Laxus?" he asked again.

"Yes, Gajeel! Jesus! I knew you were dense but I didn't think you were deaf, too," I scoffed. " _As I was saying_ …"

"You fought…" It was my turn to cut him off.

"YES! I FOUGHT LAXUS! Now stop cutting me off or _I'm_ gonna cut your damn lips off!" I screamed. He recoiled like I had slapped him, and shut up. I sighed, suddenly sad. I hadn't planned it to go like this.

I looked into his face, seeing the same face that I had last saw 8 years ago. But back then, he had been they angriest person I knew, well, besides myself. He hated everyone and everything, he was mean and vicious, nasty enough to attack the guild he was now a member of. Now, as I looked at him, of course he was still grouchy and a little rough around the edges, but he seemed happier. And don't get me wrong, seeing Gajeel happy was one of the things that I had been trying to do since we were kids but he didn't have even the slightest idea of what I had gone through the past 7 years. He didn't understand the hopelessness and depression I had felt, knowing he was out there somewhere, and I couldn't save him.

He had no idea how much I had missed his scowl and profanity, his rare laugh and his consumption of iron, so much iron. Tears pricked at my eyes, my lip trembling. He frowned.

"Hey. Come on, I'm sorry, Kit. You don't gotta cry. I'm sorry I ran off," he mumbled, looking uncomfortable.

"It's not the fight," I choked out. "It's just," I broke off, a quiet sob wracking my body, "I thought you were dead, Gajeel. Dead. You know what that means? I thought you were never coming back, I thought I was never going to see you again." He reached out his hand but I backed away, not finished. I could feel tears streaming down my face but he needed to understand.

"I looked for you for 5 years and I found nothing. Nobody found anything. You and Juvia just fell off the face of the earth. Gone, no trace of anything." I coughed, fighting against the rising anger. "I felt so lost, like I was always missing something. And now," I whimpered. "Now, you're alive. After so long of believing you were dead, you're here, standing in front of me, and I just… I don't… I can't," I stuttered before Gajeel wrapped me in a tight hug, his arms wrapping tightly around me. I sobbed loudly into his shoulder, a short cry that I'm sure everyone in the guild probably heard. I held on tightly to his tunic, squeezing hard so he wouldn't disappear again. He didn't speak; just held me while I cried humiliatingly.

I willed my tears to stop and Gajeel's firm hug loosened. I stepped out of the embrace and wiped at my face, feeling mortified. God, I had cried three times in one day. Get your shit together, Kit.

"You can stay at my place tonight, and if you wanna leave tomorrow, you can," he said, his voice gruff and his expression hard. "Although, I wish you would stay for a few days. You can meet everyone."

I sighed. "You know, as tempting as that sounds, I think it would be best if you didn't introduce me to them." He scrunched his eyebrows.

"Why not? If they can tolerate me, I know they'll like you," he said.

"Um, well, you see," I began. "I'm pretty sure I almost killed their master." I said sheepishly. His jaw fell open for a second time.

"Wait, what? You tried to kill Makarov?" he asked.

"No, Macao," I said quietly.

"Oh," he said, waiving a dismissive hand.

Gajeel was very familiar with my episodes and had seen me go overboard on a few occasions. But, rarely did I ever go so far as to actually take someone's life. To be honest, I hated being so out of control. But for some reason, the smallest things would set me off. Like judging my family, or me.

"Yeah, well, even so, I don't think that I should go back in there again," I said, gesturing toward the massive double doors. He gave another dismissive wave.

"I tried to kill them all, and look where I am now," he grinned. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, I'll tell you all about them when we get back to my house," he said, starting up the path. "Oh, and I have to introduce you to Lily."

I screwed up my eyebrows. "Lily?"

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, my cat."

* * *

By cat, Gajeel really meant a flying, sword wielding warrior cat. He was a small little thing, gruff looking just like Gajeel. And when he spoke, his voice was deep and gravelly.

"And where have you been?" he asked Gajeel, clearly very perturbed. Gajeel ignored him and stepped inside the front door.

"This is Kit," he gestured vaguely to me as he walked into the kitchen.

"Nice to meet you," he smiled thinnly, still upset with Gajeel. "I'm Pantherlily, Gajeel's friend."

"Cat," Gajeel corrected from the kitchen. Pantherlily turned and glared toward the doorway Gajeel had walked through.

"Actually, exceed," I said. "Where are your wings?" I asked, looking at his back where his sword was strapped.

Gajeel poked his head around the corner and looked at me, confused.

"How do you know that he's an exceed?" Gajeel asked. I shrugged.

"I met a few a couple years ago and there aren't many flying, talking cats around." I slumped down onto Gajeel's couch. Gajeel returned to the kitchen, from which loud bangs could be heard.

"We're having spaghetti," he grunted. Pantherlily jumped up onto the couch and sat beside me.

"So how long have you and Gajeel known each other?" he asked. I looked down at him and grimaced.

"Too long," I said which received a grumble from Gajeel. Lily chuckled. "14 years," I clarified. The exceed looked shocked.

"That means you knew him when he was in Phantom Lord?" he questioned. I nodded.

"I was in Phantom Lord long before Gajeel joined," I said, removing my robe and tossing onto a nearby chair.

"How come you never told me about her?" Lily called out to Gajeel. That was a good question. How come he hadn't told him about me? Gajeel stepped out of the kitchen, a dish rag draped over his shoulder. And what he said, took me completely off guard.

"I wanted to forget Phantom Lord," he grumbled, looking straight at me. "Even if that meant not telling everyone about the only family I have." I looked down at my hands, insulted. I wanted to forget Phantom Lord, too, but I couldn't just ignore all of the memories I had made there. The good ones where Gajeel and I pulled pranks on other members, or fought until we were both laughing so hard, we cried. The ones with my parents: my dad teaching me how to redirect solid objects, my mom showing me ways to run faster, them tucking me into bed at night before they left for a job. I know Phantom Lord had done a lot of fucked up things, but I grew up there. I couldn't just forget those memories, and I didn't want to. And the fact that Gajeel wanted to just forget me, well that kind of hurt.

Ok, not kind of. That cut pretty deep.

I stood and grabbed my robe. "I guess I'll go then. I don't want to embarrass you," I mumbled, heading towards the door.

"Let me explain, Kit. I couldn't tell them about you because if they thought I still had ties with Phantom Lord, they wouldn't trust me," he said desperately. I whirled around, furious. Attacking Fairy Tail was a sore subject for me and he knew that.

"Trust you? Why should they trust you? You tried to kill them all! You and Jose and Juvia, all of you! I didn't understand the rivalry between us and them but I sure as hell wasn't going to attack innocent people. You almost killed those kids, Gajeel. You beat the fuck out of them and hung them on a tree, like fucking christmas ornaments. And after all of that, they still accepted you into the guild, and you couldn't even tell them about me?" I shook my head, thinking back to when I left the guild. What they had done to Fairy Tail was disgusting but what disgusted me more was the fact that I did nothing to stop them. At the time, I had just wanted to get as far from Phantom Lord as possible. But after the attack, I realized how terrible I had been. Of course, what Gajeel had done was horrific and I thought, if the guild he almost annihilated could forgive him, then I certainly could. But what I had done, or rather not done, was by far worse. I could have helped then and didn't. My mother would have been repulsed by me. And even after all that, Gajeel never told anyone about me, his family.

"Kit, please. Stop being like that. You fucking know what would have happened if I told them who you were," he growled, just as I was about to throw the door open and leave. I hesitated, my hand on the knob. Dammitt, he was right. Had they known who I was, they would have tracked me down and turned me over to the wizard council when Phantom Lord had been disbanded. I had slipped away in the dead of night, so no one know I had left. The council probably didn't even know if I was still alive or not. I wasn't sure if they even cared, but I prayed that they didn't.

I grunted and turned around. Gajeel had the rag gripped in his hand, his fists clenched at his sides. The anger slipped out of me, replaced by shame.

Being raised in Phantom Lord, I hadn't known that other guilds didn't want chaos or destruction. That they wanted camaraderie and bravery, a place where wizards could become a family. I had grown up thinking that all guilds were good for was fighting and a means to make money. And all my life, that had bothered me. As a child, I always wondered why everyone always seemed like they were angry. But when I grew up and began taking jobs with my father, I realized that people didn't normally act like that. I knew my father and mother were never angry people; they were passionate. And I always thought, why were they part of this terrible guild? I had asked once and my mother had said because my father's father had been part of it and my father didn't want to leave behind the only piece of his father that he had left. I had nodded like I understood and never brought it up again.

I sat back down on the couch with a huff. Gajeel walked over and squatted down in front of me.

"Kit, I'm not embarrassed by you," he said. "Tomorrow, I'll tell everyone about you, if that's ok with you." He reached forward and gently squeezed my hand before standing up and walking back into the kitchen to finish dinner.

Lily grunted next to me. I turned to look at him and he had a confused look on his face.

"What?" I asked gruffly. He shook his head.

"I've never seen Gajeel that tender toward another person, well besides…" he began when Gajeel called out from the kitchen.

"You say the next word in that sentence and I swear to God, cat, I will make you sleep outside the next time there is a thunder storm again," he shouted. Lily shrunk back and shivered, as if recalling the memory.

"Ok, ok. I won't. Just don't make me do that ever again," Lily whimpered. I scrunched my eyebrows.

"Wait, who?" I asked, rising from the couch and walking into the kitchen. Gajeel was stirring a pot and clutching the counter with white knuckles.

"No one. Don't worry about it," he mumbled. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at his back.

"Gajeel, who was he talking about?" I asked again, my voice hard.

"No one. Just forget it," he grumbled as he lifted the pot and poured its contents into the sink. I walked over to the counter and looked at his face. I don't know if I was imagining it, but I could see the tiniest of pink on his cheeks. I gasped, realization hitting me.

"Gajeel Redfox, you do have a girlfriend, don't you?" I asked, disbelieving. From behind me, I could hear Lily snicker.

"No!" he growled and whipped around, glaring at the exceed. Lily was sat on the kitchen table, his smirk hidden behind his paw. I looked back at Gajeel.

"You can't lie to me. You know I can always tell," I said knowingly. He glared at me.

"I don't have a girlfriend," he mumbled.

"Ok, so then you like someone. Who is it?" I smirked and went to sit at the table.

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Gajeel. Who is it?" I asked again. He rolled his eyes and turned back to the steaming sink. I turned to look at Lily who shrugged but smiled slyly. Gajeel made three plates of spaghetti and sat down at the table. He glared down at his plate and stabbed at the noodles.

"Come on. Who is she?" I asked, after a few moments of silence. He ignored me and continued spearing his noodles. "Seriously, Gajeel. As long as it's not that girl that you nailed to a tree, it can't possibly be that bad," I joked. At this, Gajeel stopped eating. I stopped smiling.

"It's not the girl you crucified to a fucking tree, is it?" I asked, a little louder. He didn't answer but set his fork down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. Shocked, I looked at Lily for confirmation but he wouldn't look at me either.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me? You have a goddamn crush on Levy McGarden?" I snarled incredulously. He looked up at me sharply.

"How do you know her name?" he asked roughly.

"So it is her," I confirmed.

"How do you know her name?" he asked, pounding his fist on the table. I barked a laugh and crossed my arms.

"After you almost killed everyone in the guild, I made it a goal of mine to find out as much as I could about them, to try and ease my conscious, you could say." I explained. I had felt so bad about not trying to stop Phantom Lord that I looked up as much information about them as I could.

To this, he didn't know what to say. He opened and closed his mouth as if he was going to say something, but he just ended up putting his face into his hands, groaning.

"Jesus, I know, all right? I'm a piece of shit. I don't deserve her. She should hate me. I know I hate myself for it," he said, looking up at me. He looked so angry, his red eyes boiling. "I'll never be good enough for her and I already know so you don't have to fucking tell me."

We sat there for a moment, him shaking in anger and me leaned back in my chair, before I said something.

"You're right. You are a piece of shit," I said clearly. Lily's head snapped up, looking at me in disbelief. I could see the muscles in Gajeel's jaw jump as he nodded. "But, for God sake, don't hate yourself for it. You need to forgive yourself. I have, she has, everyone has," I said, grabbing his trembling fist, stretching his fingers from their cramped position. "And after you forgive yourself, you can spend the rest of the time trying to make up for the shit you did to her." I clutched his hand like we used to do as children when the other was scared, and gave it a little shake. "It'll be ok, man."

His body slowly stopped quivering from his anger, nodded and squeezed my hand in return. He smiled then, a small one, but it was still a smile.

"And I plan to do just that."


	4. I could drink you under the table, boy

So this one is a little shorter than the last few but I wanted to put something up for you guys. I read through it like once so if you guys see anything kind of wierd, let me know!

Hope y'all like it!

* * *

That night, I slept on Gajeel's couch with Pantherlily curled up at my feet. Gajeel was asleep in the arm chair beside the couch, his head thrown back against the head rest with his mouth wide open. I squinted against the early morning sun pouring in though the window. Outside, I could hear birds chirping and the whipping sound of the wind as it blew against the house. I groaned. I was not a morning person.

Next to me, Gajeel stirred.

"No, wait," he mumbled. I looked over at him, startled. His eyes were still closed but his fist were clenched, like he was having a nightmare. "Wait, Levy, please…" he trailed off before snoring loudly, jolting himself out of his slumber. I smirked and rolled over, accidentally kicking Lily off the couch with a loud _thud_.

"Hey!" he meowed loudly. Gajeel clutched at his knee, laughing loudly at his friend's misfortune.

"Sorry, Lily. Forgot you were down there," I said sheepishly, sitting up. He grunted in response and stretched out on the floor. Gajeel stood, stretching as well, reaching his arms high over his head.

"You excited?" he smirked. Sleep still fogged my brain so, what did he say?

"Excited about what?" I yawned, setting my feet onto the ground.

"Everyone gets to officially meet you. Aren't you excited?" he asked, strangely cheerful. What the hell? I squinted suspiciously at him.

"No. And why are you so smily?" I asked. He breathed out a laugh.

"Cause if you thought Phantom Lord was bad, wait until you see the shit that happens at Fairy Tail."

* * *

"This happens everyday?" I asked, my eyes wide in surprise. We had our share of squabbles in Phantom Lord, but this was on a whole other level. Around midday, Gajeel and I arrived at the guild hall, only to be met with another massive brawl, much like the one from yesterday. I had only assumed that the state of disarray was due to the big hype for the fight but now, as I looked around, members had each other in head locks, drinks were flying, and people were shouting playfully over each other.

Gajeel nodded his head, a private smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah, it's great," he said, tugging me further into the fray. I dodged flying debris and spilt drinks as Gajeel sat me at a table in the corner.

"Wait here a sec. I'll get some drinks," he mumbled quickly for disappearing into the crowd again. I looked around, recognizing everyone's face from my research. I could see Elfman Strauss and Wakaba Mine shouting at each other, broad smiles on their faces, like they weren't really arguing. Kinana was trying to deliver drinks safely while Romeo, Macao's son, darted under her tray, sending them flying. They drenched Cana, successfully pulling her into the fight as she chased a laughing Romeo between tables. I shook my head, this was insane. How could Gajeel deal with this everyday?

Just as I was about to look for Juvia being I hadn't seen her since I left Phantom Lord, a blonde girl walked over to where I was sat.

"Hi, you're that girl from yesterday, aren't you?" she asked. I looked up at her, taking in her bright smile. I narrowed my eyes.

"Yeah," I said, leaving no room for further discussion. Not picking up on the hint, she sat down across from me.

"I'm Lucy," she said, resting her chin on her hand. I raised an eyebrow.

"I know," I said, looking back out to the sea of people to see if I could spot Juvia's blue hair.

"You already know my name?" Lucy asked, shocked. I nodded, swinging my gaze back to her. She scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion.

"How?" she asked suspiciously. Before I could _not_ answer, Gajeel arrived, carrying four mugs of beer.

"I see you've met Bunny Girl," Gajeel smirked down at the blonde and sat down next to her. She crossed her arms and huffed.

"That's not my name," she mumbled. Gajeel rolled his eyes and pushed a mug to me. I grabbed it, taking a huge gulp. I sighed in content. The one thing that I had missed in my years of seclusion had been drinking with friends. I took another swig, groaning in happiness.

"Better slow down there, little girl. You might get a tummy ache," a patronizing voice said from behind me. I whipped around, ready to throw my drink on whoever had called me a little girl again. To my surprise, it was the boy from yesterday, the one with no clothes on.

"Do I look like a little girl?" I asked before downing the rest of my beer, swiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "Cause I could drink you under the table, boy." I sneered. A slow smile stretched across his face. He looked over my head at Gajeel.

"I like her, Gajeel," he chuckled. Gajeel laughed loudly before knocking his mug against my untouched one.

"Me too," he said loudly before gulping his beer down in one go. I narrowed my eyes.

"Is that a challenge, metal head?" I asked, a smile twitching on my mouth. He shrugged, mischief in his eyes.

"Maybe. What are you going to do about it?" he asked. I smirked and stood up.

I shouted across the guild toward the bar, attracting the attention of the other guild members. "We're gonna need 10 more beers over here!"

* * *

A couple hours and a few dozen beers later, Gajeel and I were sat at the table opposite Cana, the guild drunk *cough* I mean alcohol enthusiast, and Gray. We had played a couple rounds of who could drink the fastest, so binge drinking (which I do not condone). Cana was pounding on an incredibly drunk Gray, yelling at him for making her lose. Gajeel had his hands laced behind his head, reclined in his seat. I was sipping a water that Mirajane had brought for us, feeling somewhat woozy. I had never been able to keep up with Gajeel but Gray, I had delivered my promise.

Lucy and Natsu were both laughing from Gray's drunken state, Gray too inebriated to do anything about it. Everyone had returned to their bickering, if only slightly louder than before. People had placed bets on who would win, almost everyone betting on Cana and Gray, except for Juvia, who had smartly placed hers on Gajeel and I.

"Juvia does love Gray-sama, but Juvia has seen Gajeel and Kitsuran drink before. There is no contest," Juvia had explained calmly to me before placing her bet. Juvia won a whopping total of 1,000 jewel, stuffing the pot into her pockets.

"Juvia can finally take Gray-sama out to dinner. It is a great day," she said, her usually emotionless face tinged with pink.

Gajeel burped loudly in response, turning his head to the side to look at her.

"You're a great friend, Juvia," he said to her. Juvia nodded her head and sat down next to Gray, taking his hand.

"How do you feel, Gajeel?" I hiccuped. He looked down at me and smirked.

" _I'm_ fine. You look a little tipsy, though," he commented with a chuckle. I narrowed my eyes, my head swaying a little.

"I'm not," hiccup, "drunk," I defended.

"I never said you were," he remarked, standing up from the table slowly. "But you look like you could use some help gettin' up." He stretched out his hand. I looked at it for probably a second too long because he grunted and withdrew it.

"Ok then, let's see you stand up," he said, crossing arms over his chest.

"Fine," I countered. I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward, determined to stand without help. But as I began to straighten my legs, I swayed dangerously to the left. Before I could fall onto my ass, Natsu reached out and caught my shoulders.

"Whoa there. You good?" he asked. I grunted and brushed his hands off me.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, turning towards the front doors. I needed air. There were too many people in here. Despite the cheerful atmosphere, I had slowly begun to feel suffocated and the alcohol was not helping.

I stumbled over chairs, grabbing hold of tables for balance as I lurched forward into the doors. They burst open and I was welcomed with a gust of brisk air. I stepped out into the evening breeze, the doors slamming shut behind me.

I sighed, content. I hadn't gotten used to being around so many people yet, so the October air felt welcoming against my skin.

I stumbled forward, looking for a place I could sit. I saw a cluster of trees beside the road leading into town and staggered towards it. I slumped against the trunk and sunk down to the ground. Around me I could hear the rustling of leaves as the sun was slowly setting. Jeez, I had been in there a long time.

I rested my head against the tree, closing my eyes and savoring the chilly weather.

"You look comfortable," a gruff voice said in front of me. I cracked my eyes open to find Laxus smirking down at me. I grunted and shut my eyes again.

"What are you doing here?" I mumbled.

"I have to tell gramps something. Now, what are you doing here?" he questioned. I opened my eyes to glare at him.

"Gajeel asked me to meet everyone," I defended. He raised an eye brow and crossed his arms.

"Oh, he did, did he? Is he inside?" he asked, moving towards the doors. I held out my hand.

"Wait, just leave him be for a little," I pleaded. He stopped and turned back to me.

"And why should I? He backed out on our fight," he said.

"Cause he seems happy right now. Just, please. Give him a break," I mumbled. Laxus looked at the doors and then back down at me. He rolled his eyes and sat down next to me, just the barest touch of his shoulder against mine, and rested his back against the tree.

"Why do you care so much about Gajeel?" he asked me. I shrugged.

"He's the only family I have," I reasoned, gazing out into the growing twilight.

"What about your parents?" he asked quietly. I closed my eyes with a sigh.

"My parents are dead," I whispered. Beside me, I could feel him tense.

"But, I thought they were retired, living somewhere in the mountains," he said. I shook my head.

"That's what Jose wanted everyone to think," I said, my voice a little more sure. "They were killed." I looked over him. He looked off toward the road leading into town, his mouth turned down in a slight frown.

"They were killed on a job where they refused to bring me because it had been 'too dangerous'. And as a 12 year old, I guess it was," I swallowed, remembering when I had begged them to let me come along.

"The job had been to capture an escaped murderer. The patron had left out a few details. Like, he could turn invisible. After a few weeks of them still gone, a few members from the guild volunteered to go out and look for them," I grimaced. They had also not let me go look for them either.

"And they found them," I continued. "What was left of them. He had cut them up and scattered their bodies in a river," I explained. The pain of losing my parents was dull compared to the hatred I had for the man. Tantalus Malek. Along with searching for Gajeel, I had also been looking for information regarding Tantalus' whereabouts.

Laxus didn't say anything for a few minutes. He just took in my story, the real story, not the one Jose had forced us to say.

"Well, who was it?" he asked the darkening night. I said his name and Laxus nodded his head in recognition.

"I'm gonna kill him," I said quietly. Laxus, again, nodded his head. As the night grew inky, we sat there in silence, soaking in the sounds of crickets chirping and the faint roar coming from the guild hall.

"God, I'm so hungry," I slurred. Laxus chuckled next to me.

"Are you drunk?" he asked. I turned to glare at him, my head swaying.

"No, I'm not drunk." I crossed my arms defiantly and lurched forward. Laxus grabbed my shoulder to steady me and chuckled again.

"Yeah, you are," he snickered. I opened my mouth to deny it again but he stood up swiftly and hauled me up with him.

"Let's go get pizza," he grinned.

"This pizza is literally, the best pizza I've ever had," I moaned around a mouthful of bacon and pineapple pizza. Laxus grunted in agreement and grabbed his third piece. We were sat on a ledge that faced the river that ran through the town, a large pizza between us.

"So, do you think you're going go join the guild?" Laxus asked. I looked over at him sharply.

"Why would I?" I narrowed my eyes at him. He shrugged and grabbed another piece.

"I just thought since Gajeel's here, you'd wanna be with him," he admitted nonchalantly.

"Be with him? What do you mean, 'be with him'?" I asked suspiciously. He shrugged again.

"You guys just seem really close," he chuckled. "Like _really_ close." I glared at him.

"For your information, Gajeel and I are friends. _Best_ friends. So, mind your own fucking business," I growled.

"Ok, ok. Just friends. Got it." Laxus laughed and leaned back onto his elbows. "But you didn't answer my question."

I frowned. I hadn't really planned on joining Fairy Tail. I didn't come here to make friends and certainly didn't come here to join another guild. But Laxus had a point. If I joined Fairy Tail, I could be by Gajeel and Juvia. And maybe, I could make up for my lack of presence in the Phantom war.

I sighed. "I don't really know. I don't think they would want me, even if I did want to join," I confessed, referring to the exchange between Macao and I. Laxus' mouth dropped into a frown.

"You think they'll reject you because you wanted to kill Macao?" he asked incredulously. I shrugged.

"They try to kill each other every day," he scoffed. "And besides, Macao is a big boy. You wouldn't have been able to hurt him too bad," he said with a dismissive wave.

"Well, they let you stay in for how long before you tried to kill them all?" I mumbled, turning to fully face him. He looked away, his expression hard.

"Yeah, I know, all right? I'm an asshole."

I scoffed. "You can say that again." He grunted but said nothing. I sighed.

"Jeez, you don't have to get all butt hurt about it," I said and punched him in the arm. Again, he said nothing. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"All right, if you're gonna be a drama queen about it, I'll just head back by myself." I mean, he was the one who tried to wipe out his entire guild. I turned to walk back in the direction of the guild when Laxus' hand grabbed my wrist, halting my step.

"Wait a second, I'm not a drama queen," he defended and spun me around to face him. He looked down at me with a smirk on his face, a completely different reaction than I had been expecting. Instead of fire, there was humor in his eyes.

"Oh really? I beg to differ." I mirrored his smirk. He had stepped closer to me, his hand still holding my wrist as he pressed it gently to his chest, and his face now only inches from mine. We stood like that for seemed like forever, the brisk air twirling around us, waves lapping at the sea wall.

The light from the lamp post cut jaggedly across his face, one side of his face covered in shadows. I took his silence as an opportunity to look at his face, truly look at it. He had a very hard face, his features always seemed clenched in stress. But right now, his hard features were softened, his sharp mouth disarming in a slight smile, the usually tensed muscles in his neck relaxed. The scar the stuck out savagely on his face wasn't unattractive. Sure, it was slightly menacing but also slightly mouth-watering. I had the sudden urge to run my fingers through his wild hair.

His eyes skirted around my face, as if he were trying to memorize my face, just as I was doing to him. His gaze settled on my mouth. He grinned wickedly before slowly loosening his grip, my hand grazing his chest before dropping to my side.

"I guess you're right. I can be a bit of a drama queen," he chuckled, his face still a breath away. I breathed a laugh.

"Yeah, just a bit," I confirmed sarcastically. He continued to stare down at me, his blue eyes flashing with mischief. He took another step forward, our chests now touching. I sucked in a breath. Why was he so close to my face? Didn't he understand the concept of "personal space"?

"You got a lot of nerve, Kit. You know that?" he asked gruffly. I narrowed my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I was only acting like myself. What was he talking about?

He grinned. "You just have this thing about you. It's like fire. Scorching and unpredictable. Very interesting," he admitted.

This kind of caught me off guard. The only person to have called me unpredictable had been my father, and it was usually said to insult me. But Laxus said it as if it were a compliment. I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"I didn't know being unpredictable was considered a good thing," I admitted, the scent of alcohol still in my blood. He said nothing, continuing to stare at my mouth, his own still turned up into a small smile.

I wasn't sure if I was still dizzy from the booze, but I could have sworn Laxus tilted his head forward a bit, his mouth angling towards mine. But I didn't have too much time to think about it before someone shouted behind me.

"Oi! There you are Kit. I've been looking everywhere for… Oh, Laxus," Gajeel grunted. I spun around, releasing a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"Oh, yeah. Laxus thought I could use some food," I said, gesturing down towards the almost empty box. Gajeel glanced at it and directed his attention to a now tense Laxus directly behind me. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Yeah, sure. You comin' home or not?" He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked a pierced eyebrow.

"Yeah, hold on just a…" I started before Laxus pushed around me and stalked angrily toward Gajeel. Gajeel's eye widen and he took a step back. Laxus raised a fist but it froze midair as Gajeel took another step back.

"You're lucky the girl asked me to lay off, or I'd turn you into a human lightning rod," Laxus growled lowly after a few moments. Gajeel's eyes blazed with anger and fear but he nodded his head. Laxus slowly lowered his fist and turned to look at me over his shoulder.

"See you around, Kit," he smirked before walking down the street and disappearing down an alley.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Gajeel.

"You're such a pussy."

* * *

O_O Kitsuran, such a potty mouth.

Her parents are dead? Anyone expect that? I tried to make it a surprise :) I tried to sprinkle some sexual tension in there. Hope you guys liked it!


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